From today, women in Ireland are working for free for the rest of the year

You wouldn't think in 2020 that this would still be a problem.

From here on out women are basically working for free. That’s the message from the WorkEqual campaign, which has found that from today due to the current gender pay gap of 14.4 per cent, women in Ireland are effectively working for free. Speaking about the gender pay gap and how things need to change, Sonya Lennon, founder of the WorkEqual campaign, said:

“There are multiple, complex factors that contribute to the gender pay gap. These include fewer women in senior or higher-earning roles, and more women working part-time. “While the pay gap is a somewhat blunt tool and it must be remembered that it is a symptom of deeper issues, it is effective in proving that, across the workforce, women persistently earn less than men. Equal Pay Day – and the WorkEqual campaign overall – is about highlighting and challenging the reasons for this. “Ireland has made progress on gender equality in recent years, but we still have a long way to go. The latest Index from the European Institute for Gender Equality gives us a score of 72.2 out of 100. It shows gender inequalities in Ireland are most pronounced in the domain of power, where we score only 55.8 points. “Our need for effective and affordable public childcare is highlighted starkly in the Index findings, which show the gender gap is much wider between women and men in couples with children than in couples without children. The full-time equivalent employment rate for women is only 45%, compared to 61% for men. And the working life of women in Ireland lasts, on average, 34 years – compared with 40 years for men. “All of this means women are not yet on an equal footing – economically, socially or politically – with men. This needs to change.”

In 2020 it's hard to believe that there is still such a big discrepancy between the wages of men and women, but unfortunately there is. To mark the day, the WorkEqual campaign has released a video featuring over 20 Oireachtas members and the Lord Mayor of Dublin speaking about gender equality. Included in the video will be messages from The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Hazel Chu and senators Ivana Bacik, Lorraine Clifford-Lee and Emer Currie, joint Chairs of the WorkEqual Oireachtas All-Party Group.